Video by Sophia Pedroso
Cover by Olivia Goodson
Woolen gym is now home to a variety of classrooms and recreational athletic spaces for students. However, for 26 seasons, it was home to the Carolina Basketball program. In this very arena, a forward from Zebulon for the 1954-55 Tar Heels, made his impact. Today, he continues to do so, but in a different kind of arena.
Hilliard Greene is now not known as a basketball player, but as a greeter at the Angus Barn.
Located in Raleigh, the Angus Barn is a restaurant DESCRIBED as “fine dining with a rustic elegance”.
[STEVEN THANHAUSER (Co-Owner): “Think how lucky we are to have somebody who sits at the front, every single week, and starts people’s memories when they come into the restaurant.”]
[HILLIARD GREENE: “Somebody can come in with a frown on their face, like maybe the weren’t quite as happy as they wanted, or should be, and as soon as you speak to them, they smile.”]
The impact of Mr. Greene goes far beyond his work as a greeter.
[HILLIARD GREENE: “Somebody can come in with a frown on their face, like maybe the weren’t quite as happy as they wanted, or should be, and as soon as you speak to them, they smile.”]
Although he clearly has athletic and social talents, he has just as much talent on the artistic side. Woodworking is among his areas of skill, which he put toward constructing tables that are used in the restaurant. He also made plagues for his teammates out of the wood flooring of the Woolen gymnasium.
This gesture is one of the many embodiments of the incredible generosity and kindness that Mr. Greene has become known for.
[ALI THANHAUSER (Event Coordinator): “It’s just really refreshing because I think we live in such a fast paced world where people are just talking to get something out of you, or just looking to tell you something and not to listen. But he just sits there and wants to hear about your life, and what you’ve learned, and what you can teach each other. And it’s really nice.”]
While Hilliard Greene has helped the Angus Barn, the people there have helped him as well.
[HILLIARD GREENE: “I have never thought that I could be treated with the dignity and the love, more love than anything else, that the guys and the managers. Just all of them. Just all of them.”]
Hilliard Greene is a true Tar Heel, born and bred…. whether on the floor of Woolen gym… or at the door of the Angus Barn.
I’m Sophia Pedroso reporting.
